Pretty Little Thing
by thereichenfall
Summary: There's a new girl in town and she's going to rock the school. Ryder falls hard for the new girl. Jarley and Rydelle
1. The New Girl in Town

**I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this FanFic besides Danielle Snow. She is MY own character that I created. I do not own the song mentioned, either, nor do I own Lake Forest Academy. All locations used that ARE real are completely coincidental. Enjoy and don't forget to review! =)**

The moment she stepped through the McKinley doors, she knew she belonged here. She tightened the shoulder strap to her hipster-esque bag and put on foot in front of the other. Compared to all the other 5'6 skinny minis, Danielle Snow stood out with her 6'2 height and her size 18 jeans. The jocks, nerds and all the other cliques parted like the Red Sea as Danielle put on bejeweled flat in front of the other. Suddenly, a guy parts from his locker and totally crashes into Danielle. She sprawls on the floor and starts to pick up her papers. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. This is my fault," murmured the gorgeous, brown eyed boy as he helped Danielle pick up her books. He looks up into those startling violet eyes and slips on the floor.

"Hi, I'm Ryder Lynn. You must be new here."

"Yeah, I am. I just transferred here. I heard the arts program was good here. I'm Danielle Snow."

Ryder fumbled with his books and stuck out his hand, which Danielle took gingerly. "It's nice to meet you, Danielle. Well, the arts program here is fabulous, if I may say so myself. I'm a part of the glee club and, not to brag or anything, I played the role of Danny Zuko in Grease last month."

"Really, now? You don't strike me as the 'musical' type."

Ryder just smiled at the beautiful girl in front of him. _It's not often where you meet a girl who's just a few inches shorter than you are_, he thinks to himself. _She's gorgeous. I mean, look at that long red hair and those dreamy violet eyes. Sure, she's not skinny like every other girl in the school, but I like that. _

"Here, come with me; I'll give you a tour of the place. What's your first class?"

"Oh. I have…history, with Mr. Schuester. Can you tell me where room 213 is, Ryder?" asked Danielle.

"Sure, but I can do you one better. Looks like you and I have the entire day together." Ryder smiled at his new friend. "And I can even take you to Glee. It's actually really fun. You sing?"

"Do I sing? Honey, I sing AND I play many, many different instruments." Danielle laughs at Ryder's astonished face.

Suddenly, Danielle looks up from her schedule to see a blonde little cheerleader come up to her and say, "Nice bag, Zebra Cakes. Where'd you get it from, Goodwill?"

Danielle's never failing smile wavers for just a second until Ryder sees it fall completely.

"Hey, don't worry about Kitty. She's got nothing nice to say after she lost out to Marley for the lead in Grease."

"Oh, I know the girls like her. That's why I transferred here. I used to live in Chicago. The school I went to was a boarding school; my parents are super rich, unfortunately, and so they made me go to this prestigious little performing arts boarding school called Lake Forest Academy. Anyways, these popular girls there, Samantha and Katelyn, made my life a living hell. So I transferred here."

"Wow. What makes a super-rich chick like you choose a public school over a boarding school?"

"Like I said, the people AND the arts program; I hear your glee club won Nationals last year."

"Well, you heard right, BUT the bell is going to ring in a minute, so let's get our butts to history. Mr. Schue's cool and all, but he doesn't tolerate tardiness."

Danielle and Ryder go through their day, laughing and giggling, and it's time to go to lunch.

"Hey, Mrs. Rose! Where's Marley today?"

"Oh, she's just home sick today; she should be back tomorrow, Ryder." The overweight lunch lady smiles at Ryder and sneaks him a few extra meatballs on his spaghetti plate. "Who's this pretty little girl you've got with you, Ryder?"

"Oh, this is Danielle Snow! She just transferred here from Chicago!"

"Hi, Mrs. Rose. It's really nice to meet you. Everything looks really delicious," says Danielle, giving Mrs. Rose her award winning smile.

"Aren't you as sweet as apple pie, young lady. Here, I'll give you a few extra meatballs, too! It's so nice to meet you, as well, Danielle. I'll see you tomorrow, though. You're holding up the line." Mrs. Rose winks at the couple and they walk off to go sit with the glee club.

Artie and Sugar are in deep conversation when Danielle and Ryder walk up to the New Directions' table. "Hey guys, this is Danielle. She's new here. Mind if she sits with us?"

Sugar gives one stare at Danielle and goes, "No. She's too poor to sit with us."

And awkward silence fills the table until she gives a laugh and motions for Ryder and Danielle to sit down. The table goes up and down each end to introduce themselves. There was Joe Hart, Sam Evans, Sugar Motta, Tina Cohen-Chang, Artie Abrams, Brittany Pierce, Blaine Evans, Unique Adams and Jake Puckerman. After the group goes around introducing themselves, Jake mentions that Marley's out sick.

"Yeah, I know. I talked to her mom. She really likes Danielle."

The group splits off into its different conversations once again, but Unique asks Danielle a vital question; "Danielle, do you sing?"

Danielle's lips curve into a slow smile and she pulls out her ukulele from her hipster sack and begins to play the opening strands of Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant.

_I was walking down the street when out of the corner of my eye I see a pretty little thing approaching me…_

Danielle finishes the song and Artie looks around in awe. "Guys, get Mr. Schue here. He needs to meet this pretty little thing."

Ryder looks at his new friend in awe; when she said she could sing, she didn't say she **could sing**. She catches him staring at her and she elbows him saying, "Buck up, cowboy. That ain't all I can bring."

With that statement, she winks at him and picks up her books. "C'mon, Ryder; we have to go to math."

Still speechless, Ryder picks up his books and follows the new girl down the hall. He looks back to the New Directions and they give him thumbs up and that's when he noticed that everyone else's trays were eaten, but Danielle's was left completely untouched.


	2. Stupid Cupid

**I do not own any of the material used here except for my own character, Danielle Snow.  
Songs Used Until Now:  
Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant  
Stupid Cupid by Mandy Moore**

Danielle and Ryder coast through the rest of their classes and finally, it's time for Glee club. Ryder strides in and sees Finn, the temporary director. Ryder sneaks up on Finn and claps his back.

"Hey, bro, nice to see you here! I brought you a new recruit!"

Finn turns around to see that red haired bombshell standing in the doorway. She waves awkwardly and says, "Hey. You must be Finn, then new director. I'm Danielle Snow. I'd like to audition for glee club?"

Unique strides in and says, "Finn, I know you heard her singin' in the cafeteria, so technically she's already auditioned, and if Unique can say so, well, I think Danielle is so in."

"You're right, Unique; I did hear her singing in the cafeteria. Welcome to the New Directions, Danielle."

"Seriously? You're just gonna let me in like that?" Danielle's jaw drops and Ryder strides over to her and flings his arm around her shoulder.

"Buck up, cowgirl. You told me you could bring it, now let's bring it."

Ryder cues the jazz band just sitting in the room and sings,

_Stupid cupid, you're a real mean guy. I'd like to clip your wings so you can't fly. I am in love and it's a crying shame and I know you're to blame._

Danielle interrupts him and begins to sing, as well. Pretty soon it's a duet and before they know it, they're dancing around the room and flirting through song. The New Directions sit and watch the new power couple as they move around completely in sync. The song ends with Ryder and Danielle out of breath and chest to chest. Ryder leans down but stops before he kisses her.

"Wow, that was fantastic," exclaims Finn. "I think we've found one of our songs for sectionals, guys!"


	3. Uptown Girl

Danielle flops down on her bed as soon as she gets home from school. She pulls out her cell phone and types in the number Ryder gave her. She hesitates before calling, but presses the 'talk' button all the same. She hears his voice on the other end and pauses before saying, "Hey, Ryder. It's Danielle. I'm bored. Wanna do something tonight?"

On the other end of the line, Ryder goes, "I have homework tonight, but how about this, let's meet at the library, finish up our homework and I'll take you out to dinner. Sound good?"

Danielle smiles and says, "Sounds like a date, Lynn."

"I bet you say that to all the boys, Snow. I'll meet you in half an hour at the library."

Danielle smiles and packs up her things. She knocks her mom's door and quietly walks in. She sees her mom passed out on the bed. She sighs and heads to the kitchen. She writes a note that says,

Hey Mom. I'm just going to go study at the library with my new friend, Ryder. I'll be home at least by 10:30. Love, Danielle.

_We've come a long way from our riches. It's Dad's fault. All he had to do was die and POOF, suddenly we get the news he was embezzling. Oh well, better go meet Ryder._

As Ryder drives silently to the library he thinks about the almost kiss in Glee. _Man, I should've kissed her. Is this really a date? I hope so. _Ryder smiles as he remembers the picnic basket in the back of his truck. On his way to the library, he sees that Danielle's walking with her head down. He slows down to meet her pace, rolls down the passenger window and call at her, "Hey, Danielle. I can drive you the rest of the way."

He notices how poorly she's dressed for the winter weather and that her lips are beginning to turn a dark shade of purple from the cold. She smiles when she sees him and he melts a little bit inside. He turns up the heat and they drive in a comfortable silence the rest of the way. They reach the library, the study in comfortable silence, occasionally helping each other. They finally finish studying and they walk out of the library hand in hand. They reach Ryder's truck and he puts their bags in the back seat and turns to Danielle. He puts on a very serious face and says to her, "I'm afraid I can't take you out to dinner tonight, Danielle. But I will need you to put on this blindfold on."

A look of confusion passes on her face and his face cracks into a grin as he produces a black bandana and ties it around her head. He leads her carefully into the seat and buckles her in and shuts the door. He climbs into the driver's seat and he hears her say, "Lynn, you better tell me where we're going."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Snow. It's a surprise."

They drive in silence for about fifteen minutes until Ryder reaches his acreage. He takes the picnic basket out and leads Danielle to the picnic blanket he put out for them. Snow hasn't covered the ground yet, but it was cold so Ryder told Danielle to just sit tight for a second. He got a blanket for Danielle and he sneaks back out and jumps a little as he puts the blanket around her shoulders. Danielle blindly punches him and hits her mark, his rock solid bicep. "Lynn! That freaking _hurt_!"

Ryder just laughs and goes, "Well, I'm not the one that punched me!"

He takes off the blindfold and gestures to the picnic laid in front of them. Danielle's brilliant smile lights up her entire face and Ryder melts when he sees that beautiful smile.

For the next few hours, Danielle and Ryder sit and just talk. They eat the delicious sandwiches Ryder and Mrs. Lynn had made and they eat strawberry shortcake, Danielle's favorite. The sky begins to darken and they lie down on the blanket and just watch the stars together. Ryder holds Danielle close and they fall asleep that way. The sky lightens again and before they know it, it's time for another school day. Ryder makes breakfast while Danielle showers and Ryder's older brother strides in. "So, little bro, you get lucky last night?" Ryder's brother, Seth, winks at him mischievously and Ryder towel whips him.

"Bro, it's not like that; she's different."

"And it looks like she's got it going on in all the right places."

Seth narrowly misses another towel whip from his brother and Danielle emerges from the bathroom, long blonde hair braided and hanging over her right shoulder. Even though it's a men's shirt, to Ryder, Danielle looks stunning in that bright blue dress shirt. She pulls on her leggings and those same bejeweled flats she wore on her first day. Ryder spoons some scrambled eggs onto her plate and the two eat in silence. The silence continues as they drive to school and they walk hand in hand through McKinley's hallways. They make it through the day and wind up once again in the lunch line up, talking to Mrs. Rose.

"Hey, Mrs. Rose. Is Marley here today?"

"Yes, she is, Ryder. I'm sure she'll be excited to see you. She's been missing glee, a lot, too. It's been killing her, not being able to sing out the magic she's got in her throat, but she'll tell you all about that. And how are you, you pretty little thing?" Mrs. Rose spoons carrots and peas onto both their plates.

"Hi, Mrs. Rose," Danielle smiles up at the kind lunch lady. "I'm okay, but I can't wait until glee."

"Oh, you got in? That's so exciting. You and Marley should do a duet. I heard you singing in the cafeteria yesterday, but you two have gotta shoo. You're holding up the line up!"

Ryder puts his arm around his new friend and leads her to their lunch table. Danielle sees a new face at the table which she assumed was Marley. Marley was gorgeous and not in a subtle way; blue eyes sparkled underneath that old fashioned news boy cap and silky brown hair fell down her back in soft waves. She was the complete opposite of Danielle and everyone seen it. Danielle sat down and she felt a soft tap on her shoulder.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Jolly Green Giant with Danny Zuko and Sandra Dee. Since you've joined the glee club, I've decided to give you the official Cheerios welcome to the team."

The rest of the New Directions look on in horror as Kitty and her team of demons slushie their newest member.

"There. Now you're officially welcomed to McKinley High. See you around, Zebra Cakes."


	4. Stormy

Two months have passed since Danielle originally came to William McKinley high school and it's the week before sectionals and two weeks before the Winter Formal. Due to extreme self-control, Danielle went down three dress sizes due to Kitty's constant name calling and teasing. She'd been called lots of things in her life, and anyone can admit that Kitty's names were rather creative (i.e. Zebra Cakes, Jolly Green Giant, Shamu the Whale and Lardo the Clown), but the names eventually got to her.

Danielle leaves the bathroom after losing a battle with herself and tugs nervously at her sleeves. She goes up to Ryder, now her best friend, and tells him she needs to talk to him.

Ryder wonders what on earth Danielle would need to talk to him about, but he follows her to the choir room where Finn's working on this week's lesson. "Hey, Finn, could I talk to Ryder alone for a few minutes, please? We have free period, I promise."

"Sure, go ahead, guys. If you need me, I'll just be going over some stuff with Ms. Pillsbury in her office."

"Ryder, I need to tell you something. It's not easy, so I guess here goes nothing. You remember how I was telling you about those two girls at my old school? Well, we used to be best friends when we were thirteen, but they turned on me. They started calling me fat and all that stuff, kind of what Kitty's saying now, but it was worse, in a way, because Kitty didn't like me from the start. They said that they just pretended to be my friends and that I wasn't really worth anything. It started to get to me, and I know I'm not the skinniest person in the world, but in order to get them to stop teasing me, I stopped eating."

Danielle pauses just to take a breath, but she sees the tears begin to pool in Ryder's eyes. She puts her hand on his face and wipes the solitary tear streaking down his cheek away.

"I couldn't do it for long, though. I'm weak, I always was, so whenever I binged, I began to purge. I started to hate myself a lot and I began to get depressed, like my mom is. Then my dad died and everything went downhill from there. Dad died a few years ago, and he was really close to me, so I started to hurt myself more. It's starting to get out of hand again, Ryder, so I'm asking you for help. I'm sorry I'm not perfect, I wish I was for you because you deserve someone who's perfect and I'm not."

Danielle lets go of the tears she's holding back and walks away, leaving Ryder to figure out what's going to happen next. He runs after her, grabs her arm and pulls her to him, letting her tears soak his shirt. They both stand there, crying; Ryder crying because the girl he loves hurts so badly to do this to herself and Danielle crying because she finally had the courage to trust someone fully.

The bell rings and the New Directions walk into the class to find Ryder and Danielle crying in the middle of the choir room. Finn walks in and it's obvious he heard every word. He strides to the front of the room and writes a single word on that white piece of plastic; acceptance.


	5. Treacherous

Danielle closes her locker and almost backs up into Ryder. "Hi. I thought I scared you off."

"You could never scare me off, Snow. I need to ask you something."

Her heart sank inside; he was going to ask her to stop hurting herself, she just knew it.

"I want to ask you to go to the Winter Formal with me as my date."

"I'm sorry, Ryder, I can't…it's been too long since I've – er, what?"

"Will you go to the Winter Formal with me, Danielle Elizabeth Snow?"

Ryder's handsome grin just filled his entire face as Danielle threw her arms around him while whispering 'yes' over and over again into his ear.

"Oh isn't that sweet? Attention, McKinley High, Zebra Cakes just got asked to the dance by our resident musical theatre star, Ryder Lynn. Congrats, Shamu, but I don't think you'll find a dress store that has dresses in size blimp."

Ryder feels Danielle deflate in his arms. She tears away from his firm grip and runs to the bathroom, crying.

"Aren't you a little bit of a bitch, Kitty? Can't you just let someone be happy for once?"

"Just letting you know that there are better girls out there for you, Ryder. I'm single, by the way."

"Yeah, Kitty, I know you're single, but guess what? I'm not interested."

Ryder tears after Danielle into the girls' bathroom where he hears her vomiting furiously into the toilet. He bangs through stall after stall until he finds Danielle. He tries to tear her away from the toilet, but she clings to it. He proceeds to yell, "Danielle! What are you doing! Stop, please, Danielle. Please, just stop!"

"What do you think I'm doing? I need to be pretty, Ryder. I'm not good enough for you. You deserve someone skinny and beautiful and – "

Danielle's sentence is cut off as she heaves again into the toilet bowl. Ryder grabs Danielle and looks deep into those violet eyes.

"Danielle. I love you. Isn't that enough? I don't CARE about you being skinny for me, you're perfect, just the way you are. If I wanted to be with someone skinny and 'beautiful' I'd be with them, but I'm not. I want to be with you! I didn't fall in love with you for your looks; I fell in love with you for YOU. Can you not puke for one second?"

He pauses while she nods at him, tears streaming down her face. He turns back and gets some paper towel from the dispenser, rinses it in water and begins to clean up his girl. He sits down on the floor beside her and she crawls into his arms. She lays her head down on his chest and he strokes her hair as she silently cries in his arms. They both hear the bathroom door open, but ignore the figure looming over them. Ryder turns his head up to the tall figure and realizes it is Ms. Pillsbury with Marley.

"Ryder, I'll take it from here," Ms. Pillsbury says gently.

"She just fell asleep, Ms. P. I know you mean well, but she needs me. She needs help from everyone, not just me."

"I understand. Once she wakes up, can you please bring her to me? You can stay with her. I've excused you both from your classes."

It's a solid hour before Danielle wakes up and she wakes up to Ryder kissing her forehead. "Good afternoon, beautiful," he croons as she snuggles closer to him.

"Tell me it was a dream, Ryder. That I dreamt Kitty saying those awful things and that you ran after me into the bathroom."

"Snow, it wasn't a dream. She did, but you're gonna make it through this. I promise I'll help you. Ms. Pillsbury asked me to bring you to her once you woke up, but I guess we can stay here for five more minutes."

She snuggles closer to him and holds him tighter. He begins to play with her hair and before they know it, their five minutes are up. Danielle sits up straight and they both get up. Ryder takes her hand and kisses it, promising once again that they'll make it through this together.

They get to Ms. Pillsbury's office where Finn and Ms. Pillsbury are sitting. Ryder opens the door for Danielle and they both sit down silently in the oversized chairs provided.

"Danielle, Finn tells me that you're struggling with something. Can you tell us what's going on? If you don't tell us, we can't help you and we want to help you."

Danielle looks over at Ryder who nods and takes her hand. She takes a deep breath and spills everything to Ms. Pillsbury and Finn.


	6. Always

**Songs Used So Far:  
Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant  
Stupid Cupid by Mandy Moore  
Magic by Colbie Caillat**

It's officially been two days since Ms. Pillsbury and Finn intervened with Danielle and it seems like she's been doing better. Ryder hasn't left her side and she's been sleeping over at his house. The new McKinley High power couple stride hand in hand everywhere during school hours. Lunch time rolled around and Danielle picked at her food, but finished her burger, which made Ryder extremely proud of her. After lunch and on their way to math, Ryder rewarded her with a kiss, but not just any kiss; their very first kiss. Math and English came and went and before Ryder and Danielle knew it, it was time for glee club. The word 'acceptance' was still written across the whiteboard and the kids shuffled in. The bell rang for the second time and Finn strode into the classroom. He took a look at the kids that have become his life since he and Rachel broke up and he takes a seat in the front of the classroom.

"As a lot of you guys know, Danielle's been going through some hard times lately and this week, we're going to be talking about acceptance. Not just acceptance of other people, but of ourselves. So in honor of our acceptance week, Ryder and a few of his friends have asked to perform a song for us.

Ryder, Jake and Marley get up and sit on those tall stools. Jake takes out his guitar and begins to strum. After a substantial intro, Ryder begins to sing.

_You've got magic in your fingertips, it's leaking out all over my skin. Every time that I get close to you, you're making me weak with the way you look through those eyes._

Marley joins him on the chorus, harmonizing beautifully and Jake continues strumming and picking his way through the song. Eventually, the song ends and Danielle has tears streaming down her cheeks. Ryder gets up, seeing his best friend is crying, and holds her in his arms. All of the New Directions get up and join the group hug, tears streaming down their faces, too.

That evening, Marley and Unique take Danielle dress shopping, telling her not to worry because they know the dress owner personally and that they fixed it so that she could have her dress for free. "Danielle, you are going to the Winter Formal with the hottest guy at McKinley. You have GOT to have the finest dress at that school. And when I mean finest, it's got to be better than little Miss Bitchy," says Unique.

They spend two hours trying on dresses, but Unique and Marley finally settle on a short, purple, sweet heart-neckline, chiffon-type dress that looks perfect on Danielle. They also find Marley and Unique's dresses; Marley's being a knee-length, royal blue dress with a silver sash and Unique's being a white and red knee length, strapless dress. After the dress shopping, they stop at a shoe store, picking out a pair of silver heels that matched Danielle and Ryder's height difference perfectly, a pair of white flats for Marley and some fabulous red heels for Unique. The girls take their purchases and giggle the rest of the way to the vegan restaurant they were going to try. Marley covers Danielle's eyes and Unique leads her into the restaurant, promising Danielle a wonderful surprise. The girls lead her to the table and Marley quickly removes her hands and bigger hands take her place. Smiling, Ryder forces Danielle to sit down at the table and Marley and Unique leave the restaurant saying that they'll see her in school the next morning.

"Wait, you guys are abandoning me? I thought this was a girls' night out!"

"Well, I guess I'm just gonna have to make that a Ryder and Danielle night in!"

Ryder removes his hands from Danielle's eyes and she turns to him and smiles. "Oh and by the way, we're actually not eating here. Like I said, it's a surprise."


	7. Our Song

**A/N: This is my version of Glee, therefore Mike Chang did not graduate with Finn, Rachel, Kurt etc.  
Songs Used/Mentioned Thus Far:  
Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant  
Stupid Cupid by Mandy Moore  
Magic by Colbie Caillat  
Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars  
If a Girl Isn't Pretty from Funny Girl  
Change by Taylor Swift  
Black or White by Michael Jackson  
Raise Your Glass by P!nk  
Born This Way by Lady Gaga**

It was two days after Ryder and Danielle's date night that Danielle began to freak out. Finn had her and Ryder singing a duet as an opener for sectionals. It was a basic ballad, one that suited the couple perfectly, but being the over thinker she is, Danielle over-analyzed each situation.

This year's theme for sectionals was acceptance, just like Finn's glee lesson for last week was. In the middle of the choir room was a counter for the days until Sectionals. The number now read 3. Finn spent the entire glee rehearsal working on tightening up the dancing and then working with each of the soloists to nail down timing and pitch issues.

"Glee isn't just about singing, it's also about the emotion. You need to make the audience believe it's real. It's like theatre, but the songs performed at Sectionals or Regionals or Nationals AREN'T just theatre songs. Now let's run it again."

Finn drove them until they were exhausted and had everything nailed down tight. Before the New Directions knew it, it was time to board the bus for sectionals, which were being held at Dalton Academy this year. While on the bus to Dalton, Ryder holds Danielle in his arms as she tries to nap, listening to the song they were supposed to sing. Ryder looks out the window, dreaming what the future holds and whether they'll be winning sectionals or not.

Hours later, Ryder and Danielle face opposite each other on Stage Left and Stage Right, waiting for their cue. The announcer speaks and the theatre falls silent; "And now, for the National award-winning New Directions!"

Ryder goes out first, singing, _Oh her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shining. Her hair, her hair falls perfectly without her trying. She's so beautiful and I tell her every day._

Once Ryder hits 'every day,' Danielle knows it's her time to shine. She burst out, to thunderous applause, and begins to sing, _I know, I know when I compliment him he won't believe me. And it's so, it's so sad to think he don't see what I see. But every time he asks me, "Do I look okay?"_

They both go into a beautiful harmony and continue the song as the rest of the New Directions exhibit their stunning choreography in the background.

The New Directions continue on with their set after their splashing success. Tina, Marley, Artie, Ryder, Jake and Sugar perform _If a Girl Isn't Pretty_ from the musical _Funny Girl_ and the New Directions end with Change by Taylor Swift.

The last strains of Change are met with a thunderous applause and all three judges are on their feet. As McKinley leaves the stage, the Dalton Academy Warblers, complete with Blaine Anderson, take the stage, performing Black or White by Michael Jackson and Raise Your Glass by Pink. Even though the renditions of some of the best pop songs are fabulous, Dalton fails to gain a standing ovation.

Before anyone knows it, the judges are calling Vocal Adrenaline, the New Directions and the Warblers up on stage for the awards. Burt Hummel, one of the judges for Sectionals, is presenting the awards and begins the presentation.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I can say wholeheartedly that we have seen some amazing talent for this year's Sectionals. Apart from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies, the other judges and I would like to present three other awards; best song, best choreographer and best vocals. For the best song performed, I would like to present this award to Vocal Adrenaline for their rendition of Lady Gaga's Born This Way! For best choreographer, I would like to present this award to Mike Chang from the McKinley High New Directions! And for best vocals, I would like to present to Ryder Lynn and Danielle Snow from the McKinley High New Directions! Congratulations to all of our winners! And now for 3rd place for the 2012 Sectionals, the winner is….The Dalton Academy Warblers!"

The Warblers gain a smattering of applause and they graciously accept their trophy.

"And the school that wins 1st place is…the New Directions!"


	8. Damn Your Eyes

"Congrats, Zebra Cakes, on winning that trophy. What's it for again? Oh, that's right. Eating 100 Twinkies in a minute; no wonder you're so fat, Shamu."

_They mustn't see you cry. They mustn't see you cry. Just get out of here. Go to the bathroom. You can do this. Don't let them see you cry_, thought Danielle to herself as she hurries away from the Cheerios.

"Hey, Shamu, _roses are red, violets are blue. God made me beautiful, what the hell did he do with you_?" Kitty called down the hallway.

Danielle raced down the hallway, biting back tears and makes it to the bathroom. It's officially been a week since she last purged, but she had to do it again now. She bent over the toilet and vomits again and again and again. _That's it. I'm going to restrict again. I can't let her make fun of me. No lunch for me today._

Danielle picks herself up off the floor, flushes, washes her hands and makes her way to history. She takes her normal seat beside Ryder. Noticing Danielle came in late, Ryder rips off a piece of paper and quickly scrawls, _Why are you late? You're never late, Snow _and tosses it on her desk. Danielle ignores it for half the class, but when they get to their private work time, she opens it, reads it and writes in her tiny cursive writing, _I was up sick last night. I got late to school _and tosses it back to Ryder. Ryder seems to accept it and the pair work on in silence.

Morning classes roll to a stop and before anyone knows it, it's time for lunch. _Shit. I forgot. He monitors what I eat. How do I do this without giving it away?_ Danielle thinks to herself. They go through the lineup and all Danielle gets is a ginger ale and some bread.

"Danielle, you need to eat more than that."

"I know, it's just that my stomach's still doing the flips."

Danielle stays quiet during the rest of lunch, nodding and smiling at the correct intervals. After twenty minutes, she excuses herself to the library, blaming it on an extracurricular project for English. Instead of heading towards the library, Danielle makes her way to the bathroom and throws everything she just ate back up. She stays in the bathroom until the bell rings and heads towards Math. She stops by her locker and sees Ryder there. She smiles and kisses his cheek. He hugs her and doesn't let go. He goes to kiss her, but stops. "Danielle, did you get that book from the library?"

"Oh, I looked, but they don't have the book I want for English. I'm gonna see if I have it at home. I'll call you if I can't find it and we can go to the library, if you'd like."

"Yeah, sure," Ryder says while forcing a smile. "Which book are you looking for?"

"Mr. Montgomery said I could read either Pigasus by John Steinbeck or The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Why?"

"Well, it's just that you don't have English this semester, Danielle. We both have it next semester."

"Did I say English? I totally meant book club. Oh gosh. I feel like such an idiot."

_And of course she crinkles her face just the way I like it. _"It's okay, Danielle. We'll go to the library tonight. I'll read you one of my favorite books, love."

Ryder flings his arm around her and walks her to math. As they walk down the hall, Kitty walks past them and throws over her shoulder, "Oh if it isn't-"

"Can it, Kitty. Nobody wants to hear your bitching anymore. It's becoming borderline pathetic now."

Immediately, Kitty shuts her mouth and shoots daggers at Danielle as the couple walks down the halls of McKinley together.


	9. Not Enough

**Not Enough**

_Just a few more days and then I'll have her. _

Kitty tightens the high ponytail adorning her head and touches up the last of her make up. Her hands automatically go down to smooth the creases in her Cheerios uniform until she hears her mother calling her down for breakfast. "I'll be right there, Mom!"

_I know she's starting to throw up again and if I can get her to stop eating, that's when I'll have her. She's so obsessed with perfection, the little Shamu, and once I convince her that she can't be perfect, that'll be it. Then I can stop pretending to like the skimming little kiss ass and then I can start to focus on getting Jake or Ryder back. I'm not too picky, not when they're the hottest guys in school. _

Kitty does another look over and once she decides she's satisfied with her look, she goes downstairs and kisses her mom on the cheek.

"Oh, don't you look lovely, Kitty!" her mother gushes.

"I gotta go, Mom. I'll be late for school," she replies woodenly as she stalks out the door.

The bus pulls up to the end of the driveway and Kitty clambers on. The bus doors close ominously and Kitty thinks of new ways she can break the New Girl.


	10. Pretty Little Thing - Author's Note

Hey guys,

I've decided NOT to continue this story. I have no more inspiration for this story whatsoever. Thank you all for your lovely reviews!

-bubbles1x


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